


The Zoo

by orphan_account



Category: Lunch Club, The Lunch Club (Podcast), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fantasy, Fishman cooper, Kidnapping, Minor Violence, No Romance, Zoo, dog travis, if i catch any of you shipping ill come over there and take your kneecaps, magic josh, no one dies I promise!, satyr jschlatt, slime charlie, theyre kind of furries/scalies but not really, witch carson, witch noah, witch ted, zoo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23597557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The only thing Travis has known his whole life is The Zoo. For the most part, life in the Zoo isn’t all that bad. The days are repetitive, sure, but it's a comfortable, if a bit boring, life.That is, until they added someone new to the exhibit.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 115
Kudos: 328





	1. Someone New

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not ship any of these people if they are not actually in a relationship. It's creepy and disrespectful to them.

There is a zoo in the land of Yurofast, called just that: The Zoo. Many would say it sparkles in the sunlight due to its pearlescent walls. It houses many beautiful animals from around the world. There is a savanna exhibit, an aquarium, a butterfly house that’s quite popular with couples and children. There is one exhibit, however, that is different from the others. 

Simply marked “Exotic”, it houses but a few of the rarest species in the world. 

  
The only thing Travis has known his whole life is The Zoo. He remembers bits and pieces of a life before, of course. Playing tag with friends, running through his village, eating dinner with his family. 

Then nothing. Nothing at all. A dark void where memories should be. 

He remembers waking up to glass walls, a stone hut, and bowls of food and water. And it was  _ terrifying _ . He was just a frightened child, not used to constant stares and surveillance. Human children who looked the same age as him would press their faces on the glass and tap to get his attention. Adults would squint at him, as if expecting for a reaction or for him to do a trick.

It took him a long time to get used to it. 

Some days he still isn’t. When angry visitors would bang on the glass, when a zookeeper is especially rough, when it gets to be too much and he has to hide, he turns back into that frightened child. 

It’s not all bad. It’s not good for sure. But it’s comfortable and mundane, and that’s good enough.

Until they added someone new to the exhibit.

Travis had been sitting outside his hut, unable to sleep. As he stared at nothing, movement caught his attention. A group of workers rounding the corner with scientists and doctors not far behind.

They dragged with them a boy kicking and screaming, trying to force him into the home. Travis watched in horror and disturbed fascination as an angry-looking doctor walked over with a syringe full of some pink liquid. The doctor quickly injected it into the erratic boy's neck, and he went limp. 

For a moment, just before the boy passed out, Travis could have sworn he heard someone yell “ _ HELP!”.  _ But it was gone as soon as it came, and the boy was asleep. 

The workers quickly deposited the now-unconscious boy into the home, stepping out and motioning to another group of workers Travis hadn’t noticed before. They stood on a catwalk above the home with a large vat of water, and having been motioned they poured the water into the home. 

At first, Travis cried out in fear, thinking he would drown, but as he watched, the boy continued to lay limp on the floor. 

Not dead. He almost looked to be breathing. Travis blinked, looking closer at his features. Did this boy have  _ gills?  _ A tail, too? Not a tail like Travis’s, furry and sprouting from his backside, but it seemed to come from somewhere in his back that was covered by his clothes. 

There was a tapping on the glass. When he turned, he saw the workers from earlier standing there, looking irritable. One of them pointed at his hut, and jerked their chin at it. Taking the hint, Travis gave one last glance at the sleeping fish boy and ducked inside. Clearly, he wasn’t meant to have seen that. 

Cooper woke with a start and a sharp pain in his neck. 

_ Where the fuck _ \- his memories came flooding back. Exploring just a little too far away from home. Strange men in suits coming straight for him. Swimming too slow. Their nets enveloping him. Waking up on a boat, in a tank. Struggling to escape the looming glass prison. Black.

He looked around. He was in water, obviously, but what else was there? A tiny stone hut that, upon inspecting, had a cot and a bowl of kelp. 

‘ _ At least they knew what food to give me _ ’ he thought with grudging respect, picking up a leaf and biting into it. 

Still crunching on the food, he left the hut to see if there was anyone else around. The cage across from him seemed to house a humanoid-like creature made of slime, and next to that was some sort of… satyr? Strange. 

He looked to the cage next to him. Empty, but it looked lived in. whoever was in it must be hiding in that same stone hut all the cages seemed to have. 

Cooper moved forward to almost touch the glass wall, looking closer at the cages across. The satyr-looking man seemed sullen, staring off into the distance. The slime creature was sitting cross-legged on top of his hut, fiddling with something in his hands. Cooper waved to try and get his attention. If he’s gonna be here for the rest of his life, he might as well make some friends along the way, right? The slimy boy looked up with a surprised look that turned into a smile, and waved back, returning to whatever was in his hands. 

Cooper looked back at the satyr man, hoping he had noticed the waving but he remained lost in thought and angry.  _ ‘I guess not everyone here is in the best mood,’ _ Cooper thought to himself. 

He yawned. How was he tired? He had been unconscious for who knows how long, yet he felt like he could sleep for a hundred years. Crawling into his cot, Cooper tried his best to forget about everything. Maybe this was all a dream…

There are many things Charlie doesn’t know. Where his food comes from, and how it’s replaced without him ever seeing anyone doing so. Why his dreams are full of scraps of memories: the word Grace, a friend holding a dog, his face just out of reach. Poppies held by yet another faceless friend. He doesn’t know when or how he got here, nor why he only had the clothes on his back and a tiny instrument. 

Despite all the uncertainty, he exists nonetheless. He eats the food, however mysterious. He sleeps, and tries to ignore the memories. He plays his instrument, though the sound isn’t especially beautiful. Life in this pen is definitely not a life he would wish on anyone, but all things considered it’s survivable. 

Last night, his dreams were the same as always. A faint laugh from an unknown woman, being handed a poppy. Then, out of nowhere, he heard a loud  _ “HELP!” _ cry out. He jolted awake, looking around for the source. Who was that? He peeked out of his hut, trying to see if there was someone in danger. 

Across from him, there was a new member being added to the exhibit. He looked to be unconscious, and he had the features of a fish or some sort of amphibian.  _ ‘Definitely a fish’ _ , he thought to himself as the workers poured water into the boy's pen.

‘ _ The workers havent noticed me yet’,  _ Charlie realized as he watched them motion for the dog-boy next door to go inside.  _ ‘Maybe I should go back to bed, clearly I wasn’t meant to see this.’  _

With that, he returned to bed, falling into a blissfully-dreamless sleep.

As Schlatt watched the workers forcibly add a new exhibit, he knew he wasn’t meant to see it. It was one of those nagging thoughts that just didn't go away, and continued to bother and bother until you finally gave in, but he wasn’t all that annoyed yet. Ignoring it, he instead thought of when he was taken.

His village was full of satyrs just like him. Well, that  _ looked _ like him. They all have the same horns, ears, goat legs. 

The difference between him and the rest of his village is while they all liked to party until the sun came up, Schlatt would always be the first to sneak away and find a more quiet place… by himself. He’d grab his recorder, say he was going to get a drink, and as soon as he became unnoticed, he’d be off, passing between trees and playing to his heart's content. 

When the hunters came, he didn’t try to run. Raising his hands up, he tried for compromise. 

“Hey, hey, hey! No need for those nets, my friends!” The hunters seemed confused, but didn’t advance. He felt a drop of sweat roll down his neck. “If you’re looking to just get some easy meat, I’d ask if you wouldn’t. I’ll come with you if you promise not to kill me.”

One hunter laughed. “We’re not looking to kill anyone. The Zoo in Yurofast wanted us to find some inhabitants for their ‘Exotic’ exhibit.”

He knew it wasn’t a matter of “yes or no”, it was “conscious or unconscious”. He chose conscious, though it wasn’t very gentle treatment. They thoroughly inspected his recorder, thankfully deeming it safe to take.

After a long and fairly uncomfortable boat ride, they arrived.

His enclosure was simple. A stone hut, bowls of food and water. Oh yeah, and the glass walls all around. And the crowds of people. And the guards that were always watching. He remembered thinking,  _ ‘well, this wasn’t mentioned on the way here’ _ . 

The constant surveillance and the gawking crowds aren’t ideal, but he knew with a pang in his chest that he wasn’t missed in his village. 

Returning back to reality, he realized there was a worker staring at him through that damn glass. The worker looked irritated and pointed to the hut. 

Schlatt got the point. Letting that nagging thought finally overtake him, he jumped off the roof, heading into the hut. Feeling tiredness wash over him, he curled under the covers and fell asleep clutching his recorder.


	2. Making Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys meet each other for real and learn some things along the way.

The crowds had already arrived when Travis woke up. He quickly gulped down some food and stepped out, waving at the families and field trips. The children gasped and pointed, as they always did. Putting on a winning smile, Travis pretended that yes, walking around and waving all day was completely normal and part of his schedule when they weren't here. As he paraded around, keeping his smile forced on, he looked to see how his “neighbors” were doing.

The goat man sat on top of his hut (did he ever sleep? He looked like he’d been up there for hours) with a lazy smirk, holding his little instrument. Travis made eye contact with him and tried to pass the message, “good morning” through his eyes. It didn’t work. It never really did. 

The slime boy seemed to have emerged at the same time as he did. He wiped the tiredness from his eyes and exaggerated a yawn. Pretending to just now notice the crowds, he jumped in surprise and turned into a bed. He was always a good performer, definitely the most entertaining, being able to somehow change his shape. Travis didn’t bother to try and meet his eyes, that man was invested in his act.

Travis returned to reality just in time to see what looked like a large family walk up. Knowing this would be all day, Travis let himself get lost in the charade.

Cooper woke to a loud banging that sent him flying out of bed trying to hold something that wasn’t there. He peeked out of the hut. Hoards of people stood outside his cage, the source of the banging being an angry-looking father standing next to his child. 

Cooper’s heart was in his stomach. Scratch that, his throat. There were  _ butterflies _ in his stomach. A whole fucking swarm of them. He could feel his heart thumping and his legs shaking. What the fuck was going on? It’s bad enough that he’s trapped in this cage. Would this happen every day? A cycle of torment designed to drive someone to madness?

_ ‘Focus. Relax.’ _ He tried to tell himself. _ ‘Remember the gladiators back home? Pretend you’re one of them.’  _ He forced a confident grin to his face and stepped out, waving. He couldn’t hear them, but it looked like some crowd members were cheering. Others recoiled in fear, taking in his sharp teeth and webbed fingers.  _ ‘You think  _ you’re _ scared? Imagine how  _ I’m  _ feeling.’  _ He thought.  _ ‘I’m the one stuck in here.’ _

Entertaining zoo-goers was exhausting. If he took a break to hide inside, the crowd would boo in disappointment. It wouldn’t be long before someone started pounding on the glass. He didn't stop being terrified until they all left, leaving only trash on the floor and handprints on the glass. Loosening a breath he didn’t know he was holding, Cooper sank to the floor and closed his eyes. 

For a moment, he just sat there, feeling only the water around him and the ground underneath. For a moment, he felt like he was home. 

Then his “neighbor” fucked it all up by knocking on the glass. He snapped his head up, fight-or-flight reflexes kicking in. There was no one at the front. He looked to the side, expecting nothing there as well. He wasn’t expecting someone to be standing with a fist poised to knock again. He looked almost human, but there were dog-like ears atop his curly-haired head. 

“What the fuck?” Cooper said. Then he remembered no one could hear him. Raising a middle finger to the stranger, he stood to stand facing him. 

The stranger cocked his head to the side, fist turning into a confused middle finger. The stranger was flipping him off, and it looked like he had no idea what it meant. Cooper shook his head.  _ ‘I wish I could talk to this kid. We’re both shit at nonverbal’ _

To Cooper’s surprise, the boy jumped back, looking around.  _ ‘What the what? Who’s there?’ _ Cooper could hear another voice in his head, clear as day. 

_ ‘What the- you could hear that?’  _ Cooper thought. 

_ ‘Who’s talking?’ _ The dog boy was still trying to see who was speaking.

_ ‘Me, dipshit,’ _ Cooper waved to get his attention. 

_ ‘Oh. That makes more sense than what I thought it was.’  _

_ ‘I’m Cooper, by the way.’ _

_ ‘Hi! I’m Travis!’  _ Travis smiled. _ ‘This is so weird. I’ve never had someone else's thoughts in my head.’ _

_ ‘I feel that. I’m pretty sure when I first heard it I hid for like, an hour.’ _

_ ‘Wait, you’ve done this before?!’  _ Travis’s eyes widened. 

_ ‘Yeah, back at home we mostly talked like this. They called it some bigass word I can’t be bothered to remember. I just called it mind tapping for the most part.’ _

_ ‘That’s crazyyyyy.’  _ Travis looked like he gasped.  _ ‘Do you know if you can talk to the people over there, too?’  _ He asked with a point to the cages across the hall. 

_ ‘I think so, lemme check.’  _ He turned to try it on the slime boy and realized he was asleep in his hut.  _ ‘Shit. The slime boy’s asleep, and that satyr guy looks angry as fuck.’ _

_ ‘He always does, though! He’s just grumpy because he doesn’t sleep like, at all.’  _

_ ‘I’ll try it, but if he gets pissed off I’m gonna be scared as hell.’  _ Bracing himself, Cooper spoke into the satyrs' mind.  _ ‘Hey, can you hear me? This is the fish guy from across the hall’ _

The satyr, who had previously been staring off into space (as he tended to do), jumped.  _ ‘What the- fish boy? How the hell did you get into my head?’ _

_ ‘One of the perks of being a “fish boy”. I’m guessing you can hear me then.’  _ Glancing back at Travis, Cooper said,  _ ‘Travis, try to talk to him, too.’ _

_ ‘Oh, okay! Uh… can you hear me?’ _

_ ‘Yes, I can hear you. Holy shit, you sound younger than I thought you would. How old are you, anyway?’  _ The goat man asked. 

_ ‘I’m not really sure, maybe around nineteen? You kind of lose track of time in here, you know.’ _

_ ‘I forgot you’ve been here the longest of us. Fish boy called you Travis, right? I’m Schlatt.’ _

Cooper grumbled the best one can when speaking telepathically,  _ ‘I’m Cooper, and if you start calling me fish boy all the time I’mma kick the shit outta you.’ _

Schlatt laughed. It was strange to see a man who, up until now, he had only seen be pensive and irritable be laughing almost like he didn’t have a care in the world.

_ ‘So, how long will this last? Like can we only talk to each other if you’re also there?’  _ Travis asked Cooper. 

_ ‘Well, at the moment, yeah, but I can make a more permanent connection that would make it so we could talk to each other anytime. It has a limit on distance, though.’  _ Cooper winced at that, remembering his parent's calls as he traveled past that limit.  _ ‘I’m gonna wait for slime boy over there to wake up so we can get him on this too.’ _

_ ‘He’s probably just napping,’  _ Schlatt said.  _ ‘He should be out in a bit.’ _

_ ‘Do you guys wanna wait for him? We could get to know each other better!’  _ Travis plopped down on the floor. 

_ ‘What, you mean like truth or dare or something?’  _ Cooper asked.

_ ‘Truth or dare?’ _

_ ‘Holy shit. You’ve been here a longass time, haven’t you?’ _

Travis looked down, embarrassed.  _ ‘Yeah, I guess so. Schlatt, do you know what it is?’ _

He shrugged.  _ ‘I know of it, sure, but I’ve never played.’ _

_ ‘It's pretty simple,’  _ Cooper said.  _ ‘Basically what it sounds like; you pick truth or dare, and the other people either ask you a question if you pick truth, or give you something to do if you pick dare.’  _

_ ‘Sounds fun. I’m in.’  _ Schlatt sat, and Cooper followed suit.  _ ‘So, who wants to go first?’ _

_ ‘I’ll go!’  _ Travis raised his hand. 

_ ‘Alright, truth or dare?’  _ Cooper asked.

_ ‘Uh… truth!’  _

_ ‘Okay… what’s something you’ve never told anyone?’  _

Travis looked flustered.  _ ‘I can’t read. Or write.’  _

As the meaning of that statement registered, the easygoing smile Cooper had slipped from his face.  _ ‘Holy shit, man. That’s… geez.’ _

_ ‘Hey, don’t look so glum! It’s not so bad, I promise.’  _ Travis smiled. It looked forced.  _ ‘Look! The slime guy’s awake!’  _

They followed his point to see that yes, the slime guy was awake.  _ ‘Ay, slime guy. Can you hear me? This is the fish from across the hall.’ _

_ ‘Woah, man! How’d you get in my head?’  _ He ran to the glass, squinting at where Cooper sat.

_ ‘Long story that I don’t feel like explaining. I’m Cooper.’ _

_ ‘I’m Travis! I don’t know why, but you sound exactly like I thought you would.’ _

_ ‘I’m gonna take that as a compliment. I’m Charlie!’  _ He turned to where Schlatt was.  _ ‘And your name is?’ _

_ ‘I’m Schlatt. It’s good to finally meet you.’  _

_ ‘YOU do not sound at all like I thought you would, holy shit.’  _ Charlie said in surprise.

_ ‘Oh, yeah? What did you think I would sound like?’  _

_ ‘I dunno… younger? You sound like you would teach math as a substitute teacher.’ _

Schlatt snorted.  _ ‘That’s a new one. I’ve gotten a lawyer, a corrupt businessman, never a math teacher.’  _

_ ‘Okay, this is good.’  _ Cooper clasped his hands together.  _ ‘Now that we know we can all talk to each other I can make a more permanent connection-’ _

_ ‘Wait, wait wait, slow down.’  _ Charlie waved his hands.  _ ‘Do you have plans for that? Like what are we going to use that for?’ _

Cooper rubbed the back of his neck.  _ ‘Uh… no. I guess I didn’t think that far out. It would be nice to be able to just be able to like, talk to each other.’ _

_ ‘I have a better idea,’  _ Schlatt said. __

_ ‘What’s that?’  _ Cooper asked. 

He had a mischievous glint in his eye as he said,  _ ‘let's break out of here.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I started online school the other day so updates might be slower, but I'm aiming for at least once a week!


	3. Escapism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys discuss breaking out, we meet some new characters, and things start to get interesting.

_ (Short recap: Cooper woke up to find the tourists there, and tried his best to get used to it. After everyone left, he found out he can speak telepathically with his fellow zoo-mates. After they get to know each other a bit, Schlatt suggests breaking out.) _

They all stared at Schlatt, dumbfounded. 

_ ‘Are you serious?’  _ Charlie said.  _ ‘Where would I-  _ we  _ go?’  _

_ ‘I’d rather be a wanderer than be treated like a circus act.’  _ Schlatt said, anger flashing in his eyes. 

_ ‘I’m with you, Schlatt’  _ Travis said.  _ ‘We can be… what's the word? Nomads? _

_ ‘Wait, you guys don’t have places to go either?’  _ Charlie asked.

Schlatt nodded. _ ‘I do, but no one there liked me that much. I was planning to leave one day, but I gotta say this was never in my plans.’ _

_ ‘If I do, I don’t remember anything from it.’  _ Travis looked at Cooper.  _ ‘Are you in? Cooper, Travis, and Schlatt the nomads?’ _

Cooper winced.  _ ‘I...I don’t know. Not about the breaking out part, I want to get out of this hellhole as soon as possible. I just… I have a family back home that if I could, I would go back to in a heartbeat.’ _

_ ‘Well, let's at least try to get out of here, then figure out the rest after.’  _ Charlie said. 

_ ‘I agree.’  _ Schlatt steepled his fingers.  _ ‘So, what’s the plan?’ _

The Zoo knew something was wrong. Its inhabitants seemed to all be staring at each other, almost in conversation. Kasia Bone, director of the Exotic section, pointed a bony finger at one of her scientists. “You. Figure out what’s going on with that fish thing. It’s doing something with the others, and I don’t like it.”

The scientist, trembling, nodded and rushed to his station to find something,  _ anything _ . This had only started when the  _ pisces hominem _ was brought here, right? Perhaps it has some telepathic powers? He frantically searched every variation of it he could think of, ranging from ‘ _ pisces hominem  _ telepathy’, to ‘fish man read thoughts?’, but his searches yielded nothing besides a vague reference to a sailor  _ possibly  _ hearing someone else's voice say  _ something _ , which was incredibly specific and helpful. He was scared out of his mind when he timidly walked to where Director Bone sat. 

“Um, ma’am?”

“Yes, what is it? What did you find?” She waved her hand impatiently.

“Well, there seems to be nothing. There is one reference to a  _ pisces hominem  _ possibly speaking telepathically, and it was from a drunk sailor.”   
Bone slammed on her desk, causing the scientist to jump back. “Do I have to do everything around here?” Pointing to an idle worker, she commanded, “Get me my jacket. I’m going to The Coven.”

Noah was working the front counter (if you can call it that) when she came in. He recognized the face; the infamous director of the Exotic exhibit at The Zoo. Kasia Bone walked in with a confident air around her, but even Noah, specialized in stealth, could see that it was laced with anger. He tried his best for a charming smile. “This is The Coven Solutions, what do you need help with?”

She smiled back with teeth that almost seemed sharp. “Hello, I’ve heard that one of you is specialized in emotions and the like. I’d like to speak to him if I can.”

Noah nodded. “Of course, I’ll go get him.” With that, he teleported to where Ted and Carson sat in the back. “Hey, Carson, there's a lady out there who needs to talk with you,”

Carson gave him a thumbs up. “I’ll go see her. Thanks, man!”

Carson made a mental note to hit Noah later for not warning him about  _ who _ was wanting to talk to him as he stared into the cold, unforgiving eyes of Kasia Bone. Despite this, he smiled. “What can I help you with?”

“One of my… inhabitants in my exhibit seems to be acting strangely. I would like for you to examine it if you can.” She pulled a thick wallet out of her pocket. “I’m willing to pay for it whatever price you give.”

Carson raised an eyebrow. “Acting strange how?”   
“It seems to be conversing with the other inhabitants, but the walls are soundproof. We’ve found virtually nothing about telepathy in its species. You can sense thoughts, correct? I’d like you to examine it.”

He paused. “Yes, I can. I can examine just the one, or all of them if you’d prefer.” 

“That won’t be needed, I assure you. Just the one is fine. How much am I paying you, and when can you do it?”

“Tomorrow morning is fine, we can discuss prices then.”   
“Oh, you’re a dear.” She turned to leave, calling over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow!”

As Carson returned to the back, he had a sinking feeling that something was very, very, wrong.

At first, the group was confident they would be able to make a plan. Travis luckily remembered when the security guards change shifts, so they would have a small window of time when they would be able to sneak through to the entrance. The real problem was getting out of those damn cages. Charlie guessed that he would be able to squeeze his way through the cracks in the door, and Schlatt could break the glass with his horns. However, neither Cooper nor Travis had the proper features to do that, and they wouldn’t have enough time to pick the lock and sneak past without any guards seeing. This was when they hit a roadblock in their planning. Sitting defeated on the floor, occasionally one would pipe up to say,  _ ‘But what if…’ _ then trail off as they thought about it. Eventually, one by one they all turned in, giving up.

All except Cooper. He remained sitting on the floor, too tired to move yet too awake to go to sleep. He stared at nothing, thoughts swimming through his brain like a fish in an aquarium too similar to his cage.  _ ‘What an absolute shitfest’  _ he thought to himself.  _ ‘It’s useless to try and escape,’  _ a tiny voice whispered.  _ ‘You should just give up on it.’  _

Cooper shook his head. “I can’t just give up,” he said aloud, though he knew no one was listening. “The other guys haven't yet, I can't cave on them. I gotta keep going even if I fucking fail!” Despite the slightly cliche statement, he marveled at the fact that, for the first time since he came to this hellhole, he felt like everything might be okay. 

Of course, at that exact moment a worker with a breathing mask burst into his cage with a needle full of a blue glowing liquid in hand. Because why wouldn’t that happen? Of course, the one time he feels okay, bad luck strikes again.

For a moment, Cooper contemplated resisting, but he acted a second too late. He lifted an arm in protest, his movements sluggish and moving much slower than he wanted them to. It did nothing to deter the worker, and as he reached Cooper and plunged that glowing needle into his neck, Cooper knew it wouldn’t have done anything. His last thoughts before his vision faded to black were,  _ ‘Well this seems familiar.’  _

Carson knew he should have asked to bring Noah or Ted along. Even his familiar, Zara, seemed tense while perched on his shoulder. The Zoo was made to look very welcoming for customers, but behind all the exhibits and pretty pictures were stark white walls, bright lights, and windows. The halls were eerily silent, a silence that was almost suffocating. It didn’t help that the worker leading him to the lab was almost robotic, not even responding to Carson’s attempt at a cheerful “hello!” when they first met up. 

As they rounded a corner, he caught a glimpse at Kasia reprimanding a terrified-looking worker, a thick angry aura surrounding her. As she glanced over to see the pair approaching, the angry look immediately switched to an untroubled smile, but the aura remained. 

“Mr. King! Very good to see you again! Allow me to show you to the specimen.” She turned to go to a single door at the very end of the hall, gesturing for Carson to follow. When they reached the door, she winced. “If you don’t mind, is there any way you can send your little…pet away?” she waved her hand toward Zara dismissively. “As ridiculous as it seems, it doesn’t have clearance to enter our lab.”

That sinking feeling from yesterday returned in full force. “Uh, yeah sure.” As much as he didn’t want to, he willed Zara to return home. Feeling like he had just lost a set of armor, he forced a smile to his face. “Alright, I’m ready!”

Kasia returned the smile, though it seemed to be full of something more like malice. Holding open the door, she gestured for Carson to go inside.

Nothing could have prepared him for what-or who- laid before him. He had been expecting something more...human. A fish person was  _ not  _ what he was expecting at all. In hindsight, it made more sense for someone like that to be in a zoo rather than a human, but Carson never said he was the smartest. Clearing his throat and shaking off the shock, he said, “O-okay, so you want me to look over him right? Make sure everything’s alright?”

“Yes. It’s been acting strangely. I would hate for one of my precious inhabitants to be hurt. Don’t worry about him waking up, either. We used a weak sedative just to keep him from disturbing your process.” 

Carson once again wished he wasn’t alone as he stood before the fish person- who looked to be around his age as well. His hands hovered over the boy's body, glowing a faint blue as he searched for anything out of the ordinary. On a physical level, the boy was fine, save for a sharp but small pain in his neck. Emotionally, there was a longing for something far away, then fear. Panic. He searched deeper. There was something hidden under the hard exterior, he just knew it. Carson's brow furrowed as he pushed… there. A little pocket of happiness that was brought with the feeling of friends. This was different from that far-away feeling, too. It was in this building. Strange.

Just before he stopped his examination, he quickly healed that pain in the neck. To his surprise, the boy immediately woke. He grasped Carson's wrist tightly. Their eyes met, brown eyes staring into pale yellow. 

A voice spoke in his mind, one he had never heard before. It said,  _ ‘Help me, please.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kasia Bone is not a real person, just to clarify. I don't feel comfortable having any real person as an antagonist, at least in this story. I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carson and Cooper meet, but his fellow zoo-mates don't know what happened to him...

_ (short recap: our zoo boys agree to try and break out, but the Zoo has noticed their strange behavior. Kasia Bone, the director of their exhibit, enlists the Coven for help. Carson accidentally wakes up Cooper during an examination and Cooper begins to plead for help.) _

Time seemed to slow down as Carson stared into those pale yellow eyes. He was sure that he had heard someone speaking in his head, but who? Before he could ask, he was shoved aside by Kasia, who looked to be in a panic. 

“I’m so sorry! It was not supposed to wake up during your examination.” She said, trying to pin down the fish boy. 

“It-it’s fine.” Carson stuttered, still confused. While Kasia’s back was turned, he decided to go out on a limb.  _ ‘Who’s there? Fish boy?’  _ he tried.

_ ‘Yes. Please, help us. _ ’ His eyes were still focused on Carson. 

It might not have been the best idea, but Carson stepped forward and put a hand on Kasia’s shoulder, who was still struggling with the fish boy. “Here, let me. I can put him to sleep.”  _ ‘Pretend to fall asleep.’  _ He instructed in his head. 

Luckily, his instructions were followed by both parties. Kasia stepped aside and the fish boy relaxed and closed his eyes. “I just need maybe five more minutes to finish this, I was interrupted, so it’ll take longer than I first expected.” He lied to Kasia. Turning back to the fish boy, he willed his hands to glow but didn’t search for anything.

_ ‘Okay, now we have some time to talk. Who are you? Besides a member of this zoo, I mean.’  _ Carson asked.

_ ‘I’m Cooper. I can speak telepathically. That’s how we can talk right now. Now please,  _ please,  _ help us get out of here. Travis has been here his whole life, he doesn’t even-’ _

_ ‘Slow down, slow down. There are three others in your exhibit, right?’ _

_ ‘Yes. Can you help us? I’ll do anything.  _ Anything! _ ’ _

Carson could tell even without using his powers that Cooper was frantic. This was probably the first time he’d gotten a chance for help since he’d come here.  _ ‘Okay, I have an idea. I’m gonna help you, I promise.’  _ Carson pretended like he had just finished his examination and turned to Kasia with a smile. “Okay, I have an idea, but I need to examine him one more time and my powers are too expended to do another search today.”

“That’s perfectly fine! When-”

“Wait.” Carson held up a finger. “After this, I’m not sure I feel completely safe doing this. I’d like to bring along my companion, Ted, for protection. He’s skilled in summoning weapons and general combat.”

Kasia narrowed her eyes for a second. A bead of sweat began to make it’s way down Carson's neck as he met her gaze. Then she smiled a fake smile. “Yes, of course! I’m sorry my specimen here-” She glared at Cooper. “-suddenly acted out. I promise it won’t happen again, but I completely understand. Would you like to come back tomorrow?”

_ ‘Please. As soon as you can.’  _ Cooper whispered in his head. 

“Yes, tomorrow is fine.”  _ ‘Tell your friends there’s gonna be an invisible man teleporting them out tomorrow.’  _ Carson said.

Kasia clasped her hands together. “Very well! There is someone outside to escort you back to the entrance. I will be seeing you tomorrow.” With that dismissal, she brushed past Carson and began to push Cooper through a door in the back. 

_ ‘I  _ will  _ get you out, Cooper.’  _ Carson thought though he didn’t know if Cooper could still even hear him.

Carson had never appreciated the sun and natural sounds as much as he did stepping out of the Zoo. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, but another remained. Cooper. He had mentioned another name, too. Travis, was it? He needed to get home as soon as he could, but first, he summoned Zara to instruct her to tell Noah and Ted he had urgent news. After she disappeared, he began the trek home, thankful their home was so close to Zoo.

Noah and Ted were waiting for him, both in a cloud of concern, when he finally made it back home. 

“What’s going on? Are you alright?” Ted asked. 

“Y-yeah  _ I’m  _ fine, but the people- do they count as people?- are  _ not?  _ Cooper told me that one of them has been in there his whole life, he spoke to me in my mind, they  _ need our help,  _ I can’t leave them like that, and I made a promise-” 

“Woah, woah,” Noah grabbed Carson by the shoulders, cutting off his rambling. “Slow down. Who is Cooper?”

Carson took a breath. “Cooper is the one I was examining. He’s a fish person with telepathy. He was begging me to help him, and I made a promise that I would. Guys, we need to help them. I told Kasia I needed to come back tomorrow, and I got her to let me take Ted with me for protection. Noah, do you think you can-”

“Break in and teleport the other inhabitants? Yes, absolutely.” Noah interrupted. “The real problem is going to be the other guy. How are you two going to get him out without Kasia doing whatever-the-fuck her fucked up mind thinks of to you two?”

“Noah, my man.” Ted grinned, putting his hands on his hips. “Do you think some old lady could stop a hundred weapons pointed right at her face?”

“Be careful,” Noah warned. “Kasia Bone is more powerful than you think. She’s got the owner of the Zoo wrapped around her little finger, and the moment he dies she’s taking full control.”

Carson waved his hands to get the two men’s attention. “Guys! Let's come up with a plan. There are people's lives at stake here.”

Ted sobered. “You’re right.” He crossed the room, flipping the ‘Open’ sign to read ‘Closed’

“Y’know, planning to take down an evil company wasn’t in my Saturday night ideas, but,” Noah turned to go to the back room. “If we’re saving lives, we might as well be comfortable. Let’s sit in the back.”

Despite himself, Carson smiled. “You are a wise man, Noah.”

“Surely,” Noah replied over his shoulder.

Cooper was gone. Schlatt, who had been asleep for once, nearly kicked himself when he woke up and saw the empty hut. Charlie and Travis were equally worried but still tried to soothe Schlatts anger. 

_ ‘You couldn’t have known, Schlatt.’  _ Travis tried. 

_ ‘It might have been even worse if you had seen, and not been able to do anything.’  _ Charlie added.  _ ‘The only thing we can do right now is to wait.’ _

Schlatt sent a glare his way.  _ ‘At least I care. You’re acting like everything’s fine, but we don’t even know if Coopers ali-’ _

_ ‘Stop.’  _ Travis cut in, anger crossing his features.  _ ‘Arguing isn’t going to do us any good. I’m sure Charlie is just as worried as the rest of us are.’ _

_ ‘Yeah,’  _ Charlie agreed.  _ ‘everything's gonna be okay-’ _

_ ‘But we don’t know that, Charlie! We’re all fucking helpless right now!’  _ Schlatt collapsed to the floor in defeat, his head in his hands. 

_ ‘Schlatt, is everything alright? It seems like there's more going on than just your worry about Cooper.’  _ Charlie asked. 

Schlatt laughed a hollow laugh, looking up.  _ ‘Well, you know, there’s the fact that we’re currently locked in an inhumane prison for the whole world to see, we have no means of escape, we have no idea what could happen to any of us, Cooper might be d-’  _ He stopped, his voice thick.  _ ‘I’m going back to bed.’  _ He got up and turned inside, presumably to sleep.

Travis sighed. Looking at Charlie, he asked,  _ ‘Do you really think everything’s gonna be okay?’ _

For the first time, Charlie truly realized that, though Travis was probably only a couple years younger than him, Travis was still in a way very young.  _ ‘I… I don’t know. The only thing we can do is wait.’  _ He said truthfully. 

_ ‘Yeah, I know.’  _ Travis sat cross-legged.  _ ‘That’s kinda what I was expecting.’ _

Charlie followed his lead, sitting as well.  _ ‘Yeah…’  _

They sat there for a bit, neither having anything to say. Travis broke the silence first, asking,  _ ‘How do your powers work?’ _

_ ‘Y’know, I’ve never really been sure.’ _ Charlie responded.  _ ‘All I know is I can turn into just about anything, provided I weigh the same.’ _

_ ‘Could you turn into two things? Like if the whole weight was the same but you were like… two balls or something.’  _ Charlie snickered at that. Travis laughed with him, saying,  _ ‘Not like that! You know what I mean!’ _

_ ‘No, no I get it! I think it’d be easier if something was connecting the two balls, maybe like a stick, or something sticking straight-up-’ _

_ ‘Noooo!!!’  _ Travis covered his ears, despite Charlie speaking in his mind. 

Charlie laughed.  _ ‘Alright, alright, I’ll stop now.’ _

Having fallen into a conversation, the two sat and chatted about nothing in particular, but it got the job done; distracting from their worry.

Schlatt didn’t know why he bothered to try and sleep. The previous night had been a rare occurrence, sleeping a full night. He tuned out the talking of Charlie and Travis just fine, but his worry and anger kept his eyes from ever closing fully. What  _ would _ he have done if he had been awake to see what happened to Cooper? Would he try to break the glass with his horns? Cause a distraction to let Cooper escape? Or would he have been just as helpless as he was when he was asleep? These thoughts plagued him as he tossed and turned for who knows how long. Eventually, he gave up. 

Stepping out of the hut, he came just in time to hear Charlie say,  _ ‘That great dick and balls joke,’  _ And Travis cry out in protest, covering his ears.

_ ‘First of all, you guys talked about dick and balls without me? Second, Travis, we’re in your head. You’ll still be able to hear us.’  _ Schlatt decided he would drop into the conversation as smoothly as he could, considering how dramatic his exit was. 

Travis, thankfully, didn’t comment on it.  _ ‘I knowww, but it gets the point across. I can’t hear those words!’ _

_ ‘Travis was asking about my powers, and innocently suggested I try to turn into two balls. I’m guessing you can see where it went from there.’  _ Charlie explained with a grin. 

_ ‘How could you say that and  _ not  _ immediately think of dick and balls, Trav?’ _

Travis looked pleasantly surprised at the nickname but again didn’t comment on it.  _ ‘I don’t usually think about… that thing all that much, y’ know.’ _

_ ‘I don’t like what you’re suggesting there, bud. You think I’m thinking about it a lot?’ _

Charlie snorted.  _ ‘I dunno man, it seems like-’  _ he suddenly cut off, his face draining of all color as he stared at the entrance of the exhibit.

Schlatt and Travis followed his gaze to see, to their horror, a pair of workers dragging Cooper towards his exhibit. He looked… awful. His eyes were open, but only halfway. He was walking, but it almost seemed to be with a limp. He didn’t fight as the workers shoved him into the enclosure and shut the door behind him. His head hung as he just… stood there. Like a doll broken beyond repair. 

_ ‘Cooper? Are you...alright?’  _ Travis asked, worry in his eyes.

No response.

_ ‘Is everything okay?’  _ Charlie tried.

Still nothing.

_ ‘Cooper.’  _ Schlatt said. Nothing.  _ ‘Cooper.’  _ He repeated.  _ ‘Cooper, whatever they did to you in there, you can’t let it hurt you.’ _

He raised his head, eyes glassy.  _ ‘Tomorrow, I’m going back in. While I’m in there, an invisible man will be coming to get you out.’  _ Without another word, he turned to go into his hut, the calls of his friends ignored.

It was all a blur. The last thing he remembered was seeing whoever that healer was walking out of the room with a message he didn’t quite catch. Then pain. His vision went red with pain. The next thing he knew, he was standing in his cage, hearing the voices of his friends, but the words they were saying were unintelligible. He passed on the man's message without explaining any further and walked inside. He was so tired.

Cooper dreamed of his childhood, a memory of standing up for his friend and getting punched by a bully. He remembered his mother tending to him while at the same time giving him a scolding. He didn’t really care about the lesson his mother was giving him, though. The thing he was more focused on was how much that punch had  _ hurt _ , and how he was going to get revenge. Now he was thinking he should've paid a little more attention to what she had been telling him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cooper kind of goes through it in this story, lmao. I saw the opportunity for a dicknballs joke and I took it.  
> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Btw, i have a Tumblr for these fics! If you'd like to go check it out its caroiswriting :)


	5. Taking Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are just one step away from escaping, and the Coven is making sure they will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had some writers block, but all is well now!

_ (Short recap: Carson agrees to help Cooper and the others escape, and he and the Coven cook up a plan to save them.) _

Cooper woke to a worker standing over his cot, with the same breathing mask and syringe, this time a glowing pink.

“If you were just gonna knock me out again, what’s the point of waking me up, anyway?”

“I like to see you monsters scared.” The worker replied.

“Well, I’m not scared.” Cooper retorted. It probably wasn’t the best idea to insult the person in control here, but he didn’t care. His body still ached, he was tired as hell, and the only thing keeping him going was the fact he knew he was getting out. “Go ahead and do it already, I don’t care-”    
The worker jabbed it into his neck, probably much harder than needed. As his vision faded to black, he raised a weak middle finger. 

Ted Nivison is not usually a nervous man. He comes into the room being the most confident person there. Today was an exception, however. The closer they got to the Zoo, the more it felt like a swarm of butterflies were flying around in his stomach. Carson, sensing his worry, put a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry, man. Everything’s gonna be fine.” He said with a smile. “Noah, you’re still there, right?”

“I’m here, just invisible,” Noah replied. “I’ve got my communicator on, so when I get the other three away I’ll tell you right away.”

Ted, for the hundredth time, thanked the stars above that they had bought those communicators. They were probably the highest-tech things they owned and had come in handy more than once. “God, I hope this works.” He said. “I haven’t been this anxious in years.”

As they reached the iridescent building, the oppressive atmosphere Ted hadn’t noticed before now seemed to settle over him like a storm cloud. The worker waiting for them said nothing, merely motioned for them to follow. Ted felt Noah quickly squeeze his arm before disappearing. He had the sinking feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.

Travis still didn’t know what to make of what Cooper had said last night. He wanted to trust him, but what if it was a lie, or some kind of fake? It had kept him up nearly all night, and he barely slept a wink. As Travis stepped out to see his fellow zoo-mates already awake, it didn’t look like they slept much better. Well, Charlie didn’t at least. Schlatt looked the same, probably because he almost never slept anyway. 

He didn’t bother saying any greeting, instead simply saying,  _ ‘Cooper’s gone again. I saw them take him this time.’ _

_ ‘What!?’  _ Travis yelled as much as one could when mind-tapping.  _ ‘What happened?’ _

_ ‘It was just one worker. Came into his enclosure holding one of those syringes that knock you out. So we know that at least one part of what he said is true. _

_ ‘How would he know, though?’ _

_ ‘I’m just as confused as you are, Travis.’  _ Charlie said. 

_ ‘Same here.’  _ Schlatt agreed.

Charlie sighed, pushing his hair out of his eyes.  _ ‘Probably doesn’t help that I barely slept last night.’ _

_ ‘Me neither, I couldn’t stop thinking about what he said.’ _

_ ‘I’ll be waiting for this “Invisible man”,’  _ Schlatt made air quotes as he said it.  _ ‘But something doesn’t feel right.’  _

As soon as Schlatt said that, Travis felt a woosh of air next to him and a hand grab his arm. “Hey,” a disembodied voice said. “I’m that invisible man I hope you knew about. Tell your buddies I’m coming to get them next. You’ll be out soon, promise.” 

Travis was shocked but did as he was told.  _ ‘Guys, he’s here. He’ll be getting you next. We’re… guys, we’re getting out of here.’ _

“O-okay, I’m ready,” Travis whispered. He felt a hand grip his arm tightly, and suddenly they were outside, the sun shining on his face. The hand disappeared, probably to get the others.

Soon enough, Charlie and Schlatt appeared next to him, a bearded man with an eyepatch alongside them. 

“I’m out. Get here as fast as you can.” He said. Looking at them, he said, “I’m Noah. Your friend is gonna be here soon, but in the meantime, we’ll have to lay low because-” An alarm began to blare. “-well, because of that.” 

_ ‘Where should we- fuck’  _ Charlie said. “Where should we go?”

“For now, right here is fine but as soon as the others reach us we’re gonna have to book it.”

“I can’t believe this is real,” Travis said, shaking his head.

Schlatt looked over at him, and his eyes were shining. “It’s real, Travis. We made it out of the Zoo.”

The moment Ted and Carson heard Noah’s message, they sprang into action. Ted pulled the gun he had been hiding from his pocket and pointed it at Kasia’s head, saying, “Don’t move a muscle.” It was a stun gun, but she didn’t need to know that. It did the job, as though she looked furious, she stayed still. Carson woke Cooper, who sat up quickly.

“Can you walk?” Carson asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Cooper responded, standing, albeit a bit unsteadily. 

“Carson,” Ted said, not taking his eyes from Kasia. “Knock her out. We gotta get out of here now.” The moment he said that, an alarm began to go off. 

“Yep.” Carson moved towards Kasia, putting a hand on her temple. She crumpled to the floor, no one bothering to catch her. 

As they ran out of the room, Cooper “accidentally” kicked her. 

A guard stood outside, poised to attack. Carson didn’t hesitate, charging towards him and knocking him out as well.

They made their way down those too-perfect halls, thankfully passing no guards. 

“We’re almost there, be ready!” Ted yelled into his communicator. 

“Got it.” Noah responded. 

They reached the entrance, the doors almost glowing as the sun shined through. As they burst through the doors, Ted expected to see a hoard of guards standing in their way but there was… nothing. Just open land, and their approaching party.

_‘It’s almost too easy’_ Ted thought to himself as they raced towards the borders of the Zoo’s land. Then he heard the _bang_ of doors being flung open. _‘I had to fuckin’ say something, didn’t I?’_ He thought as he risked a look back, seeing a giant group of guards, led by Kasia.

“Guy’s we gotta get out of here  _ now! _ ” Carson yelled. “I don’t know if-”

He was cut off by the unmistakable sound of a gun going off, and the cries of pain from two people. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I PROMISE NO ONE DIES, YOU GOTTA TRUST ME!  
> Hope you enjoyed! (despite the cliffhanger)


	6. Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys have escaped! They've got some plans to figure out, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no real POV this chapter, sorry if there is any confusion.

_ (short recap: Our boys managed to get out of the building, but as they ran away, two people were heard getting shot…) _

Getting shot was a new experience for Charlie. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt. His cry was more from surprise rather than pain, though it could have been easily mistaken as such. No, what was scarier for him was seeing the bullet pass  _ through  _ him and continue on to hit Schlatt. 

“FUCK!” Schlatt yelled in pain. A red stain was beginning to spread on his shirt. He kept running, though his body was practically screaming at him to stop.

Another gunshot was heard. It whistled past Travis’s ear, scraping the side of his head. “Ah!” Travis’s hand went instinctively to where he had been hit, but thankfully there was no blood. 

“Guys, we  _ need _ to get out of here right fucking now!” Cooper shouted.

“Working on it!” Ted yelled back. “We don’t have a lot of options right now  _ other _ than running!”

“I really didn’t want to do this,” Noah muttered. “Guys, keep running! I’m gonna cause some property damage!” Stopping and turning to face the approaching crowd, he calmly removed his eyepatch and threw it to the ground, revealing a bright yellow eye. “Sorry about the building, but you fucks deserve it.”

The eye seemed to almost light up as a massive wave of pure energy hit the guards and Kasia. It knocked them back to hit the building, which was now missing several layers of paint and quite possibly some bricks. The energy blast wasn’t enough to kill anyone, but it would definitely slow some of them down long enough for everyone else to escape.

Noah turned and sprinted away. The others were nowhere in sight. Good. It meant they had gotten far enough away he couldn’t see them or they were hiding. Both were good. He just needed to do the same. 

The world was so big, but Travis was running through it faster than he could see. His body was protesting as he ran, his lungs burning, his legs aching. He ignored it. He kept running, following Carson and Ted as they led them through bright streets and narrow alleys. A loud  _ boom _ was heard from behind them. He hoped everything was okay.   
Ted stopped them when they got to an abandoned-looking garden. “Let’s stop here. You guys are definitely not used to running for so long.”   
“And you are?” Cooper wheezed, collapsing on the nearest rusty bench. Travis followed suit.

“Better than you are,” Ted replied. “I’m not the one dying on a bench.”   
Cooper weakly flipped him off. 

Ted chuckled. “I’m Ted, by the way.”   
“Cooper. This here’s Travis, Schlatt, and Charlie.” He jerked his chin in their respective general directions.

Travis waved, even though his arms felt like jelly. “Hey.”

“Charlie, Schlatt, how are you guys holding up?” Carson asked.

“I’m fine,” Schlatt replied. “Our species were basically made to run. This fucking bullet wound hurts like hell, though.”

Charlie winced. “I think that might be my fault.”    
Everyone stared at him, confused. “What?” Carson asked, his brow furrowed.

“Well… As you can probably see, I’m, well, made of slime. I can change my shape pretty easily.” As he said that, he held up his hand, briefly turning into what looked to be a crocodile head. “I don’t really have any organs or bones or anything. If I’m not focused, or someone catches me off guard, shit just passes through me. I think that happened with that bullet. Sorry, Schlatt.”   
Schlatt blinked at him, then burst into laughter. “Why the fuck are you apologizing, asshole? You took a fuckin’ bullet for me, dude!”   
Charlie looked surprised. “You mean you’re not mad? I guess I  _ technically  _ took a bullet for you, but you still got shot because of me.”

Schlatt put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re fine, man. Next time,  _ I  _ take the bullet for you.”   
“Let’s hope that won’t happen.” Carson cut in. “Here, Schlatt. Let me get that for you.”    
It was a fairly quick and simple process. The worst part was taking out the bullet, which hadn’t gone in more than an inch thanks to Charlie. Despite this, it didn’t stop Schlatt from cursing up a storm while they did it. Charlie tried his best to comfort the man, but neither were the best at human connection. It just resulted in a stressed Charlie and Carson, and a very loud Schlatt.

Shaking his head at the three, Ted sat on the bench opposite Travis and Cooper. 

“How are you two doing? You look like you’ve caught your breath at least a little.”   
Travis shook his head. “I still can’t believe we actually made it out. This is literally the first time I’ve been outside since… I don’t even know when.”   
“My heart is fucking racing, dude.” Cooper admitted. “It’s probably just from the running, but that was scary as hell.”   
“It was,” Travis agreed. “I was so scared when they started shooting.” His hand brushed where he had gotten shot. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, but that could’ve been really bad.

Ted looked concerned. “Do you need Carson to help you out?” 

“No, I think I’ll be okay.”   
“Good to know.” Ted tapped his communicator. “Noah, are you there? We’re in the old gardens.”   
Noah’s voice came crackling through. “I’ll be there soon. They’re definitely out of commission now.”   
Schlatt, now bullet-free, came to lean on Travis and Cooper’s bench. “Yeah, what the hell did Noah do? He said something about property damage, then a minute later we heard this giant explosion.”   
“Do you guys carry explosives wherever you go or something?” Charlie asked.

Carson laughed. “Well, technically Ted could summon some, but no, Noah didn’t have any explosives with him. We’ll let him explain when he comes here.”   
“When who comes here?” Noah shocked everyone by appearing out of nowhere directly behind Carson. 

“Wh- holy shit dude, don’t scare me like that!” Carson jumped. 

“How long have you been there?” Ted said, shaking his head.

Noah chuckled. “I figured you guys would come here. I was literally like a minute away.” 

“I see you lost another eyepatch,” Ted commented.

“The drama was worth it.” Noah moved to sit next to Ted. Holding out his hand to Cooper, he said, “Haven’t seen you before. I’m Noah.”   
“Cooper,” he took the hand tentatively. “Nice eye.”   
“Ah, we match, don’t we? Yellow to yellow.”    
“Hell yeah.”   
“Good we’ve got everyone together now, but we need to talk about what we’re gonna do,” Carson said. “Kasia knows where we work and live at, and even if she didn’t it’s not like we’re hard to find.”   
“I have an idea, but you might not like it.” Noah offered.

“What’s that?”

“We could lead her to Josh.”   
“Are you suggesting we have Josh send her into that void dimension?” Ted asked incredulously.

“We’re sending the bitch  _ where? _ ” Cooper asked.

“Our good friend Josh can open portals to this mysterious place that’s just… black. Forever.”

“And we’re putting Bone in there? Perfect. Send her to the Cuck Dimension.” Schlatt grinned.

Carson wheezed. “ _ The Cuck Dimension! _ Holy shit, Schlatt. That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”   
“So we’re sending Kasia to The ‘Cuck Dimension’?” Noah said, making quotation marks around the words. 

“It seems a little intense, but I think until we come up with how to actually get rid of her, it might be a good idea,” Ted said.

“Would she… y’know, die? If we left her there?” Travis asked. 

“Not die, per se. She would just kind of… pause.” Noah explained. 

“It’s like a coma, but your body just kind of turns off and when you come out you feel the same as you did coming in,” Carson added. “These assholes once pushed me in there as a prank.”   
“It was funny, you’re just a little bitch, Carson,” Ted said with a smile.

“Am not! You guys just suck ass.”    
_ ‘These guys are kinda weird.’  _ Travis said.

Cooper snorted.  _ ‘A little, but I think I could get used to it.’ _

“Alright!” Schlatt clapped his hands together. “Let’s go find that Josh guy and send Kasia to the cuck dimension!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Sorry again for any confusion, but I thought it was important for there to be no fixed POV for this particular chapter.


	7. Portals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys go to Josh for some help, and there are some plans made and executed.  
> Or, the chapter where Josh is very tired and tired of everyone's shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this a day early because lshfsdfkjl I finished and didn't want to wait

_ (Quick recap: Our boys have officially escaped! Noah caused some minor property damage, but all in a day's work. Unfortunately, there’s the small problem of one Miss Kasia Bone…) _

Josh’s morning had started out bad, and it just kept getting worse. 

“Hi guys it’s me, Josh, I’m having the worst morning ever,” Josh said to no one in particular as he changed his clothes. “I bet you’re wondering: what happened? Well, it all started with the coffee. Ohh, the coffee. I had next to no sleep last night, so I thought, ‘Oh! I’ll make some coffee!’ And it was all going  _ fine  _ until I opened the cupboard to get a mug and spilled the coffee grounds all over myself. Y’know, the coffee grounds I had  _ just _ set on top of the coffee machine, which just so happens to be in front of the cupboard? Yeah, those coffee grounds.” 

He was rambling, but he didn’t really care. “So now I’m here, and I’m changing all my clothes, it got all over my favorite sweatshirt and who knows when I’ll do laundry next, I-” There was a knock at the door. A very distinctive knock, at that. Carson's knock, three quick taps then a fourth one a second later. 

“Josh? Are you awake?” He called from outside.

Josh groaned. It was too early for Carson’s chaos. Nevertheless, he reluctantly went to open the door. He was greeted by an absolute  _ hoard _ of people. There were usual suspects, Noah, Ted, and Carson, but along with them were four… interesting looking people. 

Josh sighed. “Alright, what’s the big deal here? It’s way too early for this crap.”   
“Josh it- it’s twelve-thirty, dude.”   
“Yeah, and I’m running on like four hours of sleep, it’s early.”    
“Look, Josh,” Ted steepled his fingers. “We’ve got a bit of an ah, issue.”   
“There’s always some kind of issue with you guys.”    
Teds pointed ears tinged pink. “Well, yeah, but this issue is a little more… serious, you could say. You might have noticed the new company with us.”   
“We may or may not have broken them out of a zoo.” Noah cut in.   
“You  _ what? _ ” Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Alright, alright, get inside. I think I might need to sit down for this one.”

As they all crowded in his cramped living room, Noah, Ted, and Carson told him about how they had met these…  _ interesting _ individuals, who he came to know as Travis, Schlatt, Charlie, and Cooper.    
It was by far the stupidest (and admittedly bravest) thing he’d heard his friends do in a while, and he’s seen them do some seriously stupid shit.

“So, you’re housing fugitives-”   
“Technically, you’re also housing fugitives” Charlie quipped.

Josh didn’t respond. “-So you’re housing fugitives. Why are you telling me this, other than so you can take years off my life?”

“Well…” Carson said. “You know how you can open those portals?”

Josh stared at Carson in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you want me to send that Kasia lady into the void.”   
“Okay,” Schlatt said. “We want you to send the broad to the Cuck Dimension.” 

“The  _ what now? _ ”

“The Cuck Dimension.”   
“Schlatt, I just met you, and one of the first things you’ve done is rename  _ my _ dimension, do you see the problem here?”

Schlatt smiled. “Hey man, you know me!”   
“We  _ just _ met. And getting back to the subject, why the  _ fuck _ would I do that. You do realize I like, use that dimension for shit, right? I keep my homework in there, dude! I’m gonna reach in there to pull out some fucking like- I don’t know, like, chemistry, and some fucking bitch is gonna fall out and kill me!”   
“Josh…” Carson trailed off.

“Don’t ‘Josh’ me. Wh- wait, why was your first thought to go to  _ me  _ and not like, I don’t know, the  _ authorities? _ ”   
“C’mon Josh, you know me and the authorities don’t mix well-” Noah said.

“You have  _ four _ eyewitnesses, dude. You could literally get that zoo shut down for… what do you guys even count as? Creatures?”

“Josh, what if you put Kasia in the Cuck Dimension, we take her to the police, then you don’t have to deal with our shit anymore?” Carson suggested. 

Josh put his face in his hands. “I hate you guys so much,” He said, his words muffled. 

“Does that mean you’ll do it?” Carson asked hopefully.

Josh groaned, his face still hidden in his hands. “...Yes. But you owe me, dude.” 

“Yes!” Carson cheered. “I promise we’ll make it up to you!” 

Somehow, they actually came up with a plan for once. Ted guessed it was Josh, who, despite having next to no sleep, added significantly to the overall brainpower of the group. They’d always joked that the Coven had about 1 brain cell, and that they constantly fought over it. Josh has around 10 on a good day. Today wasn’t, but he still had a solid 5.

Their plan was fairly simple, actually. They sent a message to Kasia, telling her that they would surrender but only if she came to the Coven’s building alone. If she did, they would lead her inside, and someone would push her into Josh’s portal. If she didn’t, well, they would do their best. 

Kasia was angrier than she had ever been before. She was angrier than the time her sister spilled nail polish all over her bed. She was angrier than when her first boyfriend cheated on her. She was even angrier than when she went to use the bathroom and the toilet seat was up. Those… monsters. Beasts. Idiots. They had escaped, and with the help of people she had  _ paid.  _ Not only that, but one of the vagrants had done… whatever that blast was, and now the front of the building looked absolutely horrid. She sat in the back, watching workers rush around to check that nothing else had been destroyed. 

That’s what she assumed, at least. They could have all been doing a tap-dance routine and she might not have noticed. Her rage was almost blinding, her vision red. She didn’t even notice a single worker timidly walking up to her until he cleared his throat. 

She looked up at him. “What.”   
He flinched. “U-uh, this letter came- there’s a letter for you.” He practically threw the letter toward her and ran. 

Catching the letter from the air, she glanced at the envelope, which was addressed simply to “Bone”, and tore it open. There was a single slip of paper inside, with a message written in a semi-legible chicken scratch. 

_ “We surrender. _

_ Come alone, and we’ll go without protest. _

_ You know where to go.” _

It wasn’t signed. It didn’t have to be. Kasia crunched the paper in her hand and stood. For the second time this week, she was going to the Coven.

The trap was laid, the message sent. All they had to do now was wait. Noah was keeping watch, Josh was crouched next to the door waiting, and everyone else tried their best to look natural as they waited in the front hall. 

Noah tapped a finger on the windowsill as he gazed outside, eyes going to every spot of movement. 

Ted sat on the counter, fiddling with a small knife, practicing summoning and retracting it. Charlie and Travis were watching with morbid fascination as Cooper looked away. Schlatt was teasing him, but there was no bite in his words. Simple banter between friends.

Carson watched them with a smile. For a moment, despite the… unusual circumstances, it almost felt like they were just a normal group of friends, hanging out and having a good time. 

Then Noah gave the signal that she was coming. 

Josh would say they got extremely lucky. Somehow, their absolute shitfest of a plan actually worked out. Kasia didn’t notice him as she stepped in just the right amount for him to sneak past her and get ready to open the portal. Ted greeted her, meeting her eyes with a confident fire to match her thinly-masked anger. That’s what he said, anyway. Ted tends to exaggerate his details. 

“So, you give up?” She said. “No trickery? You lot have caused quite the commotion, after all. How do I know you won’t just do the same thing again?”

“Hey, listen.” Carson leaned in, putting a hand on Ted’s shoulder. “Me? Gongaga.”

That was the signal, strange a phrase as it is. Josh took a quick breath, and opened the portal, making a quiet  _ pop _ noise. 

“You what?” Kasia glanced behind her. “What was that noi-”    
Ted unceremoniously pushed her back, sending the woman toppling into the wide-open portal. 

“Don’t touch my chemistry homework!” Josh called after her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Josh is so entertaining, his morning is based off a very similar morning I had.  
> Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys finally get the break they deserve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *[kazoo plays]* ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER!

_ (Short recap: Our boys need help in the way of a portal, so they go to Josh, who is Very Tired of everything and everyone. They come up with a plan, and manage to lure Kasia into a trap that results in her falling directly into the Cuck Dimension.) _

Josh closed the portal as quickly as it was opened. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. 

“So… It’s done, right?” Travis asked.

“Almost there,” Carson replied. “As strange as it seems, considering everything else that has happened today, we have to go to… I guess we can call them the authorities?” 

“Great!” Noah said, turning towards the back. “You guys go along, I can hold down the fort here-”   
“Not so fast,” Ted said as he grabbed the back of Noah’s shirt. “You’re coming with us whether you like it or not.”    
Noah glared at Ted. “You know me and the authorities don’t mix well, Ted.”    
Charlie cocked his head. “You said that earlier, too. What did you even do?”

“Listen, sometimes there are things that are unnecessarily overpriced, and I’m not paying for that bullshit. And  _ sometimes _ stores have unexpected security that will go off.”   
Schlatt snorted. “So basically, you got caught stealing something?”

“Twice” Carson coughed. Noah reached over to smack him. “Just telling the truth, man!” 

“ _ Fine _ , I’ll come, but I can’t promise it’ll be pretty.”   
  


Turning in Kasia was… tense, at best. The minute the officers spotted Noah, they were immediately on edge. Remarkably, Ted and Schlatt made quite the dynamic duo as they sweet-talked them into listening. 

Josh was happy to summon Kasia and duck out to take a much-needed rest, bidding them farewell as he began the short walk to his house. 

When they finally finished at the station, the sun was dipping low in the sky and their stomachs were grumbling.

“Shitt, that was fucking exhausting,” Cooper groaned as they made their way down the street. “It’s been a long-ass day.”   
“That’s an understatement,” Schlatt said. Travis and Charlie made various sounds of agreement.

“You guys probably need some food, too. Real food, not whatever the hell they fed you in there.” Carson said. 

“Ew, don’t remind me,” Travis scrunched up his face. “I’m so sick of eating fish all day.”   
Cooper spun to look at Travis. “Wait, you ate  _ fish _ ?”

Travis’s eyes got big. “Oh shoot, did I eat some of your people?”

“Nah, I’m just messin’ with ya,” Cooper laughed. “We don’t eat fish, but I won’t stop you.”   
“I have an idea,” Ted said with a smile. “You guys ever have pancakes?”

The former zoo members looked at him with confusion. 

“Can’t say I’ve heard of them before,” Schlatt responded. 

“Holy shit,” Carson said. “We’re about to enlighten you, dude.”   
Noah grinned. “Your eyes are about to be opened to the holy manna that is pancakes, my friends.”

“Someone wanna explain what pancakes are?” Cooper asked.

Travis nodded. “Please?” 

“You’ll see when we get there,” Carson promised. “Luckily, we’re already going in the right direction.”   
  


Charlie felt bad for the waitress. She recognized Carson, Ted, and Noah, which seemed to already have scared her a fair bit. When she caught a glimpse of the rest of them, she clutched the menus in her hand so hard her knuckles went white. He winced, avoiding her eyes.

Despite this, a smile was brought to his face as they all crammed into the booths, barely any space between them. The poor waitress handed them the menus, quickly scurrying away. 

Noah leaned back in his seat, arms behind his head.

“Aren’t you gonna look at the menu?” Charlie asked him.

“Oh, I know  _ exactly _ what I’m gonna order.” He replied.

“Dude figures out what he likes and sticks with it for five years,” Carson said, shaking his head. 

“Carson, you wanna split the Belgium waffles? I could really go for one but I definitely can’t finish that.” Ted asked, flipping through the menu. 

“I would, but my mind’s all french toast today.”   
“Where’s that?” Schlatt leaned over Cooper to look at Ted’s menu. “That sounds good, whatever it is.”    
Travis smiled. “Man, I sure do love all these… uh, pancakes.”   
“Your menu is upside down, Travis.”   
Travis reddened, flipping his menu right side up. “I knew that, Cooper!” 

“Ooh, I forgot about that,” Charlie said. “You need help there?” 

“Yeah, whatever that is-” he pointed at an image of what looked to be toast with strawberries on top. “-I want that.”   
Charlie squinted at the menu. “I believe… that is the strawberry french toast. Y’know, that actually looks pretty good, I might go for that too!”   
Carson looked over at them. “Wait, forgot about what?”

“I uh, can’t read,” Travis said with a grimace.

“Oh shit, we gotta fix that,” Ted said. “I’ve been told I’m a great teacher, would you want me to teach you?”

“You once made a whole hoard of children cry with your ‘big loud voice’, but whatever you say,” Carson muttered. 

“What did you say?” Ted asked in that ‘big loud voice’. Cooper snickered. “I don’t want to hear it, fish man.”   
He was met with a middle finger in the face. 

“I mean if you really want to, sure!” Travis said. He looked over at Cooper. “What are you ordering?”   
“Shit dude, I’m still not sure.”

“When in doubt, just get chocolate chip pancakes,” Carson supplied, reaching over to point at Cooper's menu. 

“Y’know? I kinda vibe with that.”   
The waitress returned, thankfully looking more collected. “Is everyone ready to order?”   
When she was met with nods, she smiled, quickly taking everyone's orders and disappearing once again into the back, with promises of food being out shortly.

“I feel for that waitress,” Charlie remarked.

“Yeah, she looked scared as hell when we first came in.” Cooper agreed. 

“How are you guys finding, well, all of this?” Noah asked.

Travis shrugged. “It’s still super weird to me.” 

The others voiced their agreement.

“Yeah, like 8 hours ago or whenever, we were in basically a prison,” Schlatt said. “Now we’re sitting here waiting for pancakes. It’s a little strange.”

“Today’s been a bit of a doozy,” Carson said. “I’m glad it’s over.”   
“Thank you. For helping us, I mean.” Charlie said sincerely. 

“Of course man, it’s what- what friends do,” Carson replied, eyes shining.

They returned home, bellies full of food and hearts full of love. 

“So, there’s one problem,” Ted said. “We only have one spare bed. It’s fuckin’ huge though, you guys could all fit in it no problem. Is that alright?”

“Dude, compared to before, that sounds like paradise,” Cooper responded. 

“C’mon, I’ll take you there.” Ted turned to the back.

As the four laid there in the dark, Travis stared at the ceiling. Despite what a long day it was, he was wide awake. 

_ ‘Anyone else can’t sleep?’ _ He whispered in his mind.

_ ‘Oh good, I’m not the only one.’ _ Schlatt said back.

Cooper let out a quiet laugh.  _ ‘Fuck, it feels like ages since we did this.’  _

_ ‘We should use this to gossip about the other guys.’  _ Charlie joked.

They all giggled, quickly shushing each other. 

_ ‘This feels like the sleepovers I’d have back home,’  _ Cooper said with a smile.

_ ‘Yeah, but all the time and not just one night.’  _ Schlatt said, reaching over to poke Cooper.

_ ‘Alright, we gotta go to bed now.’  _ Charlie ordered.  _ ‘We’re all gonna be fucking tired tomorrow if we don’t.’ _

Despite this, they stayed awake longer, sharing secrets and trying not to laugh too loudly. 

Eventually, they all fell asleep, curled up together in a giant tangle of limbs.

Safe. Together. Free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap, folks! Well, at least for this part. I'm taking a short break to write some other things, but I will be returning with hopefully more wholesome times, and some more explanations.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it, and more!  
> Also I listened to the motivational lizard song as I posted this lmao

**Author's Note:**

> ooooo baby look at those paragraph breaks! so much easier to read *[chefs kiss]*


End file.
